The present invention is directed particularly to apparatus and method for the machine preparation of addresses and mechanical sorting of bulk mail. Wrinkling and crushing of letters, careless placing of addresses with irrelevant markings makes the present machine location thereof undependable. This invention locates machine written addressee codes (ZIP Codes and/or coded local telephone number of addressee) and street address preferably independent of the edges of the mail, it being understood that certain novel features, such as use of coded addressee telephone numbers, may be incorporated in conventional sorting and mail delivery systems. These are further improvements on my application for patent, Ser. No. 91,701, for Article Sorting Apparatus and Method filed on Nov. 23, 1970 and my application for patent, Ser. No. 107,421 for Postal Apparatus Method filed Jan. 18, 1971 and are incorporated herein by reference.
Background material disclosing the magnitude of the problem of preparing and sorting of mail is contained in many publications of the Postal Service such as, "Memorandum to Industry on Postal Means" by H. M. Faught, Assistant Postmaster General, 1970 and the "Proceedings of the U.S. Postal Service Invitation to Industry", 1970.
There are a large number of prior art disclosures and apparatus presently available which may have similar objectives and are referenced in my earlier applications.
There are also a number of prior art systems for addressing of bulk mail and the sorting thereof including as disclosed Pine patent: U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,404 as well as those referenced in my earlier applications. However, the prior art does not provide for means for readily locating the markings for the address on the envelope or package as provided in this invention. The principal object of this invention is to furnish an economical means for a bulk mailer to prepare his mail so that the Postal Service can quickly, easily, and accurately sort it mechanically with a saving of labor. While the present invention is directed towards a method and apparatus for the addressing and sorting, it will be apparent that several features to be described later in detail can be used to the advantage in other sorting systems.
In a highly preferred form, the invention contemplates a postage stamp or other member having an adhesive on one surface or other means of affixing (printing, for example) same to an article to be sorted as described in my earlier application for patent, Ser. No. 91,701 for Article Sorting Apparatus and Method filed on Nov. 23, 1970. This invention contemplates the making a larger surface on the stamp to carry the name and street and, as well as the coded telephone number of the addressee and a coded ZIP Code which can be entered more accurately by bulk mailing apparatus, so that the stamp actually becomes a complete machine readable Stamp-Label. While the earlier invention was directed to economically bridging the gap between machine sorting of articles and manually addressing of same, the present invention is addressed as well to the mechanical placing of the markings for addressing a Stamp-Label on bulk mail and sorting Letters not only at the incoming post office but at the addressee's post office. It then becomes a computerized letter sequencer facilitating the arrangement of the letters for distribution by respective letter carriers.
The street address, the coded telephone number, and the markings for the ZIP Code are all placed on the Stamp-Label and referenced to the location of the stamp guide markings of the differently sensed material. One of the guide markings may be a horizontal line or bar upon or about which the street address of the addressee is printed or prepared by the postage meter combined with addressing mechanism or by writing as on a stamped envelope, so that the identification of the street address is that more accurate.
An apparatus for accurate printing of the code markings along with a code guide for metered postage is shown in FIG. 4 of my application Ser. No. 91,701 for Article Sorting Apparatus and Method filed Nov. 23, 1970. This includes apparatus for referencing to the code guide and is improved by adding thereto a postage meter if needed as well as a typing or printing mechanism which is activated either by electronic tape, banks of typed addresses, or addresses prepared by xerography from previously prepared addresses or other means known in the art to print the material on the Stamp-Label. The critical point is that the address, street and ZIP Code and code telephone number, however entered on the Stamp-Label is referenced to the code guide so as to be easily read optically, translateable into electronic signals, e.g., binary electronic language connected to memory banks or data base carrying said numbers and address marks. In place of or in conjunction with the street address, the telephone number of the addressee might be used either in code or printed form.
In place of, or in conjunction with the street address the telephone number of the addressee with ZIP Code can be used either in code or in printed form to obtain the printing thereof by electronic pulses triggered by the sending the electronic signals of the telephone number with ZIP Code, to a data base carrying the numbers and address in a computerized memory bank. This data base for the addresses as referenced to the telephone numbers, already exist in many local computerized telephone offices. It is used for monthly billings. Having the addresses referenced to the respective telephone numbers permits complete addressing to be accomplished by giving the data base the electronic signals for the respective telephone number. The data base in turn provides electronic signals to a tape-controlled electronic typewriter, which can place the address in any desired form including machine readable code on the code label and be referenced to the stamp guide.
The apparatus which prints the address has a mechanism which keys the location of the code guide to the place where the address code markings are printed. If the address is placed on a metered Stamp-Label, the metering device must also, of course, print or be sensitive to a pre-printed mark acting as a code guide which is in the material upon which the address marks are placed. If there is any fault in the code guide material or in the pre-printed Stamp-Label or the pre-printed envelope, a safety device stops the operation.
When the bulk mail goes to the incoming post office, the mail is sorted for initial distribution by referring to the coded ZIP Code as marked on the Stamp-Label. An apparatus for accomplishing this has been disclosed in my application for patent, Ser. No. 91,701 of Nov. 23, 1970. An improvement of this apparatus is the use of a moveable reflector or optical system with movement synchronized to reflect the code markings from the Stamp-Label, all being synchronized to the movement or location or orientation of the code guide in the Stamp-Label so as to give the optical reader a period of reading rather than one resulting from a stopping of the movement of a certain sized letter of certain color past the optical reader as is presently necessary.
The code guide can be of material which in addition to being a means for locating the marks which constitute the address, can be a triggering or activating means, or controlling apparatus for the optical train for picking up, orienting, and carrying a mail piece for transportation for other servicing. Also to improve the performance of the scanning reader, in place of having the letter turned to place the Stamp-Label at the bottom of the letter as it is read, it can be turned so that the letter goes through the reader with the street address markings in a so-to-speak vertical, or more accurately stated, in a line which is at right angles to the direction of motion of the letter as it is read to get the greatest uniformity of location of the Stamp-Label as placed by the customers.
As the letter reaches the post office of the addressee's ZIP Code, it is then passed through a reader sorter mechanism which in turn reads the code markings indicating the street address or telephone number of the addressee and produces an electrical output signals corresponding to the referred markings. The output of the scanner reader, in turn, may be stored electronically in a memory bank or communicated to a data bank connected and coordinated with servo-mechanisms to levers for directing the article to be discharged in receptacles or places which have been determined to be in order for various sequenced delivery boxes for the proper route mailmen. Thus, the apparatus becomes a reliable computerized letter sequencer.
A useable data bank is often in existence in the local telephone office as it is used for the telephone company's local billings. In many foreign countries the telephone and postal service are unified which facilitates the coordination.